A straight Jewish couple with three children and routine rounds to the synagogue would be the last in line to be mistaken for transgender activists.
However, the latest Netflix documentary, Circus of Books, set for release later this month, is centered precisely on such a couple who ran a gay X-Rated store in 1980s America.
Circus of Books was a gay X-Rated store run by the Masons in Los Angeles until 2019 when it was shut down after over 3 decades of thriving as gay LA’s epicenter.
Opened at a time when homosexuals did not enjoy as much freedom and cultural acceptance as today, even by US standards, the store went on to become the cocoon for gay LA where they could nurture and celebrate their divergent sexualities.
Release Date & Trailer
The Netflix Documentary, titled “Circus of Books,” will be released on April 22, 2020. A trailer for the documentary has also been released.
Background
The Masons had started the business as a desperate means to earn a livelihood for their 3 children. Little did they know the bookstore would become the largest distributor of X-rated gay material in the US in less than a decade.
To this day, Circus of Books has a signboard to its name and remains an iconic landmark for LA even a year after it was shut.
An Intimate Portrayal
A directorial debut of the couple’s daughter and artist, Rachel Mason, the series offers an intimate portrayal of a rather unheard of interaction between a conservative Jewish family and the business of X-Rated gay material.
Despite making an unorthodox business choice, the Masons were wary of revealing the true nature of the business, even to their family and friends. The plot thickens when one of Rachel’s brothers comes out of the closet, and her parents are finally forced to merge their private and professional worlds.
Along their journey, the Masons witnessed the dawn of the HIV/AIDS epidemic firsthand and also lost a-many treasured employees to it. They were even faced with jail time for ‘obscenity’ at the height of the AIDS crisis.
In addition to X-rated gay material and adult toys, the store stocked back-list paperbacks novels by LGBTQ+ writers, science fiction books, Bibles, and foreign newspapers.
However, the Masons were not to identify themselves as gay rights activists but only as exceptionally neutral entrepreneurs, until their son Josh came out.
Winning Hearts Around The Globe
As a glimpse into an untold chapter of queer history, Circus of Books has been winning accolades and rave reviews ever since its release in June last year before heading to Netflix.
Keith Uhlich of The Hollywood Reporter calls Circus of Books,
“Very funny. Very moving. She (Rachel) knows that even the most open-minded among us need to get past a certain level of shock and incredulity to see Karen and Barry as the beautiful, and beautifully complicated, people they are.”
Tre’vell Anderson of OUT goes onto say that,
“Circus of Books tells this complex and enthralling story, about the rise and fall of their family business, with a unique specificity. It’s Mason’s lack of distance from the subject – in fact, it’s that she, too, is part of the story – that makes the picture soar with intimacy.”
Ryan Murphy, the creative force behind American Horror Story and Glee, among many other award-winning and popular shows, is the executive producer behind Circus of Books, which you’ll be able to stream in the next few days.
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